10 Creme Filled Chocolate Cupcakes, Ranked Worst To Best

Even after 15 years of baking professionally, I still find myself regularly eyeing the mass-produced, pre-packaged, creme-filled chocolate cupcakes, conveniently located by the register at my closest corner store. Iconic in every way, the small chocolatey cakes are stuffed with shelf-stable white frosting, covered with a flat layer of chocolate icing, and decorated with an instantly recognizable looping line of white icing across the top of each cake. I may now have access to freshly baked chocolate cakes made with premium ingredients, but I've never forgotten where that taste for tender and sweet chocolate cake started.

Hostess Cupcakes are perhaps the most widely available version of the popular snack cake, which is understandable since the brand was one of the earliest pioneers of the famous snack cakes. Far from being the only brand to offer creme-filled chocolate cupcakes now, several other baking companies have emerged with similar, and in some cases, nearly identical cupcakes to tempt you from the snack aisle. And for completely scientific reasons (wink), I wanted to know which creme-filled chocolate cupcake was truly the best — even if that meant tasting every single one of them.

Each of these cupcakes was compared only to the others, not to a bakery-fresh gourmet chocolate cupcake from an artisan baker, to keep the playing field level. But I did take into consideration the flavors, ingredients, and texture of each brand to determine which cupcakes were truly worth indulging in. Here's how 10 creme-filled chocolate cupcakes rank, from worst to best.

I really wanted to like Pingüinos, the "Chocolatey" filled cupcakes made by Marinela, a baked goods company owned by Bimbo Bakeries USA. The first pack I picked up came with two incredibly dry cakes with almost no filling, which were nearly inedible. Thinking that this couldn't possibly be what the manufacturer had in mind for these cupcakes, I decided to try again and found a larger box of eight individually wrapped cakes at a different grocery store. While these cupcakes looked nearly identical on the outside, they were slightly more tender and less dry with noticeably more cream filling. But even that couldn't salvage the Pingüinos' position in the cupcake rankings.

There's a strange, bitter, earthy flavor to the cupcakes, almost like raw bark or buckwheat pasta, that's completely off-putting. Perhaps it's because Pingüinos only have 38 grams of sugar per serving (two cupcakes) — which is admittedly a lot, but still lower than most of the other brands on this list that often contain about 50 grams of sugar per serving. More sugar masks potential unappealing flavors and also helps keep baked goods moist. Additionally, these cupcakes contain gelatin, which isn't entirely unusual, but isn't found in the other snack cakes and could be contributing to the peculiar flavor. One common ingredient that isn't listed is chocolate liquor, which might further explain why these cupcakes don't pack as much of that recognizable chocolatey flavor that the other cakes in this lineup do.

For many, the frosting on a cupcake is the biggest detractor if the level of sweetness is too overpowering. Drake's Yankee Doodles Creme Filled Devils Food Cakes might just be the perfect snack cake for the icing-averse, as they're made without the usual chocolate icing topping and squiggly white line across the top. While it was hard for me to imagine a chocolate cupcake without the icing on top, I set my biases aside and instead focused on the flavor and texture of the Yankee Doodles, which can be found in grocery stores nationwide.

Nutrition was not a major factor when considering each of the cakes in this ranking, given that these snack cakes are inherently an indulgence. But since this version is made without one of the sweetest components, I was curious how it compared to other cakes. A single Hostess cupcake has 170 calories per cake, with 230 milligrams of sodium, and 29 total carbohydrates, whereas a single Yankee Doodle has 140 calories, with 150 milligrams of sodium, and 22 grams of total carbohydrates — so it's still an indulgence, just slightly less of one. Knowing that I was saving a few calories and carbs wasn't enough to convince me that these mostly plain cupcakes were a real treat, though. The devil's food cake is tender, but not especially moist. It has a delicately sweet and fluffy creme filling, but the cake-to-filling ratio is off, with too little filling making it into each bite, if any at all.

Katz Gluten Free Chocolate Crème Filled Cupcakes include a creme filling and chocolate frosting like most of the others on this list (sans decoration), but are prepared with gluten, soy, dairy, and nut-free ingredients, making them appropriate for those with a whole slew of food allergies. But that really shouldn't throw you for a loop, since none of the cupcakes on this list are meant to include nuts, soybean oil is easily replaced with palm and canola oil, and many other cakes only include 2% or less of dairy ingredients like whey and buttermilk anyway — if any at all. The only difference you'll really notice about these cupcakes is that they're gluten-free. They've also got roughly the same amount of calories as the other options here, debunking the idea that these might be a healthier choice.

You will likely also notice that they are not especially attractive cupcakes. 4-count packages are kept on the freezer aisle, and it's recommended to let the cakes thaw at room temperature for two to four hours before enjoying them, which sounds unbearable when a snack craving strikes. But after they have thawed, do your best to ignore how boring they look and just enjoy eating them. The chocolate cake tastes different from your typical wheat-based cake, but not unappetizingly so. And while the texture is spongy to the touch, the crumb has very little structure, and essentially melts in your mouth instead of crumbling while you chew it.

Little Debbie is a widely recognized snack brand, known for its popular Cosmic Brownies, Oatmeal Cream Pies, Fudge Rounds, Nutty Buddy Wafer Bars, and Christmas Tree Cakes, among many other items. Although "Little Debbie" snack cakes didn't arrive until 1960, the McKee family bakery (now McKee Foods) that created them is nearly 100 years old, with its earliest baked goods springing fresh from the oven in 1928. Interestingly, McKee Foods also owns and operates Drake's, which it acquired in 2013 after the collapse of Hostess in 2012. That said, the Drake's and Little Debbie chocolate cupcakes are noticeably different snack cakes.

Even though Chocolate Cupcakes aren't one of the unique offerings in the Little Debbie lineup, it seems that nearly every major snack cake brand offers them. Little Debbie tries to set their cakes apart with a few descriptors on the front of the box, like "Scrumptiously Soft Icing," which seemed to be true enough after comparing them to other cakes, and "Fantastically Fluffy," which unfortunately wasn't quite as true. These cupcakes seem to have a denser texture than many others, with a smaller amount of creme filling than I'd prefer.

Ultimately, these chocolate cupcakes aren't one of Little Debbie's most impressive offerings, but they also don't need to be. The overall sweetness level is moderate, and there's a nicely rich dark chocolate flavor to the cake and icing on top that reminds me more of the chocolate icing on top of Little Debbie's Cosmic Brownies.

After having lived in Philadelphia for the better part of a decade, there's a certain nostalgia about Tastykakes that keeps me coming back to them. Although Tasty Baking Company was sold to Flower Foods in 2011, Tastykake's signature snack styles have remained the same. Krimpets, Kandy Kakes, and Juniors cakes are the brand's most unique offerings, but several variations of chocolate cupcakes are also available in the Tastykake collection of snacks.

The most widely available version is the Creme Filled Buttercream Cupkakes, which vary from the norm with a sheet of buttercream and a line of chocolate frosting on top. They might look a little rustic compared to other cupcakes, but the frosting slab is an instantly identifiable Tastykake frosting style that's used on several of its snacks, and not at all out of place. The texture of the frosting, which is a little waxy, is also par for the course when it comes to Tastykake products. Like so many things from Philadelphia, you'll either love it or hate it, and that's just fine either way.

The creme-filled cupcakes are also available with a slab of chocolate frosting on top, and even a "Swirly Cupcakes" version that more closely resembles the rest of the cupcakes on this list. Unfortunately, both of those products are harder to find the further you are from the Philadelphia area, so you'll have to hunt them down next time you visit to see how they compare.

"A cupcake without sprinkles is like a night without stars," the box of Wonder Creme Filled Chocolate Cupcakes proudly proclaims — putting Wonder's choice to decorate its cupcakes with sprinkles as the main attraction for choosing this particular brand of cupcake. It's a bold departure from the classic looping icing piped across the top of so many other cakes, especially considering how divisive sprinkles can be for some. But if any of the companies here were going to do it, Wonder would be it. The red, yellow, blue, and white confetti-style sprinkles mimic the brand's iconic primary color bubble logo, and are soft enough not to offend those who dislike crunchy sprinkles on their desserts.

But by highlighting the sprinkles alone, Wonder is selling its creme-filled cupcakes a little short. The cakes themselves are both tender and moist, straight out of the packaging, and the ratio of filling to cake is balanced enough to get a little bit of filling with each bite, but not so much that you're overwhelmed by frosting. Additionally, these cupcakes are made with both natural and alkalized Dutch-processed cocoa powder, whereas many of the other cakes are made only with the Dutch-processed cocoa. Because of this, the cake has a slightly different chocolate flavor that leans a bit lighter on the chocolate color and flavor scale. While a lighter chocolate flavor and sprinkle topping might not be for everyone, those who are into it will be pleased with what Wonder has to offer.

Walmart's in-house Great Value brand offers 8-count boxes of Crème Filled Chocolate Cupcakes on the snack aisle, right alongside several of the other big name brands. Since the thing that sets these cupcakes apart is their "great value," I was curious how much of a cost difference there would actually be between these and the brand name cupcakes. At the New Jersey location I visited, a box of Great Value cupcakes cost $2.98. In comparison, a box of Wonder cupcakes from the same store costs $3.48 — a 50-cent difference that's worth taking advantage of if you're already a regular Walmart shopper and regular cupcake consumer.

Of course, you can only find Great Value cupcakes at Walmart, and in many cases, only if you shop in person, as they are not widely available for delivery or shipping online. With 4,606 locations in the U.S., that might not seem all that difficult to do, but my closest Walmart location was in an entirely different state, so the 50 cents saved ultimately wasn't worth the effort to obtain them.

Aside from cost savings and availability, I was surprised by how indulgent these creme-filled cupcakes are. It's unclear from the packaging where they are actually produced, but these cupcakes closely resemble the next two highest-ranked cupcakes in this lineup in taste, texture, and appearance, with nearly identical nutritional information and main ingredients — all of which leads me to believe that they might be produced by Flowers Foods.

Like Walmart's Great Value cupcakes, 7-Eleven sells a store brand version of the chocolate cupcakes under the Seven Select label. Available in packs of two next to the Hostess cupcakes in convenience stores everywhere, these cupcakes are super moist, sweet, and hard to put down — exactly what you'd expect from a convenience store that also sells Slurpees.

Like I mentioned above, these cupcakes are incredibly similar to what you'll find in a box of Great Value Crème Filled Chocolate Cupcakes in taste and appearance. While there is no manufacturer listed on the packaging, the nutrition facts are nearly identical, and there are only minor differences in the ingredients list, which leads me to believe that these cupcakes might also be produced by Flower Foods.

But unlike the Walmart brand cupcakes, it's probably quite a bit easier to lay your hands on a pack of these creme-filled cupcakes, since there are approximately 9,348 7-Eleven U.S. locations. One pack of these cupcakes cost me $2.79, and they aren't available in individually-wrapped 8-piece boxes. The 2-pack may be less convenient for packing into lunchbags and sharing, but just as easy to grab for a snack on the go, or fuel for your next road trip.

If you prefer your cupcakes super moist, often bursting with creme filling, and so sweet that a glass of milk to wash it all down with is a requirement (like I do), Mrs. Freshley's Chocolate Creme Filled Cupcakes are exactly what you're looking for. Mrs. Freshley's is a name brand owned by Flower Foods, which also owns Wonder and Tastykake, and it offers its creme-filled chocolate cupcakes in duos and individually wrapped boxes of six.

As I mentioned before, these cupcakes are an indulgence, so calorie counts were not a major factor when ranking each snack cake. But it's also worth pointing out for those that might be interested in some of the nutrition details that Mrs. Freshley's cupcakes have some of the highest calorie counts of any of the cupcakes on this list, at 390 calories per 2-cupcake serving. (The Wonder, Walmart, and 7-Eleven store brands are higher, at 400 calories per 2-cupcake serving.) Additional sugar and total carbohydrates undoubtedly contribute to the higher calorie count of these cupcakes, but it is also what makes them so delicious to those with a highly developed sweet tooth.

With that being said, these particular creme-filled cupcakes might even be too sweet for some. Even as someone who loves a sugar rush, I'm happy to enjoy these one at a time, while other taste testers couldn't even finish one without becoming overwhelmed by the sweetness, proving that everyone's threshold for "too much of a good thing" varies.

When you think of creme-filled chocolate cupcakes, Hostess Cupcakes are probably what comes to mind. Not only can you find them just about anywhere, but it was also Hostess that reportedly pioneered the creme-filled cupcake back in 1950. Using the same vanilla creme filling injected into the wildly popular Twinkie, and adding "The Original Squiggle" decoration to the top of the cupcake to set it apart from the competition, it's now the prototype upon which so many other snack cakes are based.

In the 75 intervening years since the creme-filled chocolate cupcake as we know it was invented, the Hostess Cupcake is still one of the tastiest options available. The fluffy cake has a dark chocolatey flavor, with just the right amount of creme filling, and a balanced level of sweetness that makes it easy to eat the entire cupcake without feeling like you just consumed a sugar bomb. I'm personally a fan of loosely wrapping one in a dampened paper towel and microwaving it for just a few seconds for the most comforting and indulgent snacking experiences.

Earlier this year, Hostess released a miniature version of its popular cupcakes, which taste exactly like the larger versions but are hardly larger than the size of a quarter. One package of two mini cupcakes equals about 86% of one regular cupcake, but somehow multiplies the cuteness factor even more than ever before. No lunch bag, purse, or bottom desk drawer is safe from these mini cupcakes.

If there is a limit to how many creme-filled chocolate cupcakes I can consume, I have not yet found that number. But I did my absolute best to find it, in the search for the best version of this popular snack cake. Each of the cupcakes was tasted alongside the rest for the initial tasting, and again individually over the course of several weeks to help flesh out the finer points of the rankings, especially where the choice was very close to call. The snack cakes that made it to the top of the ranking were the cakes that I couldn't resist reaching back into the box for another taste of. No fewer than three of each cupcake was tasted, and in many cases, quite a few more, to gauge consistency and expand on first impressions.

Noticeably absent from this lineup is Entenmann's Baker's Delights Chocolate Creme Filled Cupcakes. While some grocery stores still claim to have Entenmann's cupcakes in stock, the snack cakes are no longer listed on the official Entenmann's website, can't be purchased online, and I left every store I looked for them at empty-handed. Having tasted the Entenmann's version in the past, they weren't my go-to choice for creme-filled chocolate cupcakes, but it's still surprising that this is the only major brand without a metaphorical horse in this race. In lieu of a chocolate cupcake, Entenmann's currently makes a creme-filled "party" vanilla confetti cupcake, which didn't make the cut for this ranking.